


Parent-Hood

by Meanids



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Batfamily (DCU), Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, But its Jasons baby so she doesn't have much of a personality yet, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fatherhood, Fluff, Gen, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Jason Todd is a Good Dad, Kid Fic, Original Character(s), Protective Jason Todd, he's trying his best guys, the teen rating is purely due to Jason's swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:35:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27253543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meanids/pseuds/Meanids
Summary: Jason was prepared for a lot of things, it was practically second nature to plan for the impossible when you were raised by Batman. But a baby? Yeah he definetly hadn't prepared for this.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 53
Kudos: 393





	1. An unexpected surprise

**Author's Note:**

> So I finally got time to write down this idea that's been developing in my head for a while now, and oh jeez did I write more than I thought I would. I got slightly carried away with my idea, and I'm expecting this to be a few chapters long, and then maybe turn this into a series.

Jason blinked awake slowly, struggling to push through the haze of sleep clouding his mind. It took him a moment to register that the noise that had woken him was a harsh knocking at his door, at- he checked the time- 8:37am on a Sunday morning.

No one should be awake at this godforsaken time, at least in Jason's opinion. Gotham's criminals had decided to be an extra pain in his ass last night and it wasn't until 5am that Jason had managed to crawl in through his window and collapse on his bed. He'd barely had the energy to get his gear off, leaving it in a clumsy pile at the foot of his bed. And now here he was, being rudely awoken by that constant knocking at his door, with no chance of getting back to sleep.

At least it was unlikely to be any of the bat's brood, he was 90% sure they didn't know about this particular safehouse, and even if they did, the likelihood of it being them was extremely low. The chances of them being awake at this time were even less likely than it was for Jason to be up - their routine was just as bad as his. It was probably just one of his neighbours with a normal sleep schedule asking for milk or something, he really hoped it wasn’t Julia asking if she could watch her kids. As much as he liked looking after the kids, he did not have the energy for that right now.

Mustering up all his strength and ignoring the temptation to get back into bed, Jason rolled out of bed, swearing as he put too much weight on the leg that some shithead decided to smash with a bat last night. Sometimes he suspected that the universe was conspiring against him, just to make everything as much of an annoyance as possible, as if his life wasn’t already as shitty as it was. As Jason shuffled towards the door, the knocking seemed to get more impatient and if Jason was anymore awake he would’ve yelled at them to fuck off. But he wouldn’t, because he was considerate of the people who might not be awake yet, unlike some people.

Right before opening the door, Jason made sure to check that all his security measures were still in place, and that a weapon was nearby. As much as he suspected it was nothing, he’d rather not be caught by surprised whilst half awake and barely functioning. He actually liked this safehouse and it’d be a bitch if anyone had found out about it, having to create another civilian identity was a hassle he didn’t want to deal with anytime soon. After double checking that none of his alarms had been tripped, Jason undid all the locks on his door and opened it up, catching the offender mid-knock.

The second he had opened the door, the woman in front of him had stepped back quickly, her face flashing from worry, to relief and settling on a determined but hesitant expression.

The woman seemed vaguely familiar, although he couldn’t place where from. He was pretty certain he hadn’t seen her on any of the watch lists, and he would’ve recognised her if she was one of the working girls he looked out for. She was quite short (at least compared to Jason), and had long dark hair pulled into a messy bun. He guessed she usually would’ve looked quite pretty, but she currently looked like she hadn’t slept in weeks and her clothes hung off her clearly indicating she’d lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time.

It was only when Jason looked at her red rimmed eyes that it clicked – he remembered where he recognised her from. The night itself was pretty blurry but he remembered vague bits of his one night stand. He thinks her name was Carol? Or maybe Carla? She’d looked much healthier then than she did now, her skin a deep tan compared to the waxy pallor it was now, and her features hadn’t been so gaunt. If he was being honest, it looked like someone had sucked the life out of her since they last met, and that was concerning to say the least.

Carla(?) shifted on the spot, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but here, and Jason realised he’d been staring for much longer than socially acceptable. Moving to lean against the door frame, Jason offered her a friendly smile.

“Can I help you?” Jason asked. He winced at the way Carla seemed to freeze in response, he’d tried to sound welcoming, but sleep had made his voice rough and harsh sounding. Apparently, he hadn’t put her off too much, as she straightened up and gave him a strained smile.

“Hi Todd, I’m Carmen I- I’m not sure if you remember but we met a few months ago?” Carmen seemed to lose confidence, her words trailing off as she saw Jason’s confused expression. It took him a moment to realise that, no she did not know his real last name, Todd J Peters was just the name his safehouse was listed under, and probably the same alias he used when he met her. Jason nodded in response, which seemed to be enough to motivate her to continue.

“I’m really sorry it took this long to find you, I didn’t know how to contact you and no one at the bar knew where you lived and I just-,“ Carmen paused to take a breath and compose herself, “I just wasn’t sure what to do about this.”

Jason took a minute to process what she was saying. Why would a one-night stand go through so much effort to find him, months after they initially met. He felt his mouth dry out as his mind came to the one logical conclusion.

Quickly scanning the floor in front of him confirmed his suspicions, and a lump of dread settled in his stomach. Right next to Carmen was a large and tattered moses basket, and inside, tucked away under a bundle of faded blankets, was a baby. His breath hitched, and it was all he could do to tear his eyes away from them when Carmen carried on speaking. She’d clearly realised what he had spotted.

“She’s yours. I- I’m sorry I can’t-,” her voice was quickly overcome with tears, “I can’t do this. I don’t want to be a Mom”

All Jason could do in that moment was stand there, it was all so surreal. For the first time in a long time, he had felt lost. Yes, he was caught by surprise an absurd amount of times, but those were usually dire situations, where his only choice was to do something or die. He knew how to deal with those, he was prepared for those. He knew how to adapt, to survive, because that was just how his life had always been. When life dealt him a shit hand Jason pushed on, didn’t give himself a chance to hesitate, because if he did, he would be forced to question the point of it all. And that was a question Jason refused to acknowledge. People who gave into that mindset lost themselves, just as his Mom had, and Jason refused to end up like them. An empty shell of the person they used to be, surviving but not living.

But now, faced with a baby and the words ‘she’s yours’, Jason felt truly lost. A traitorous part of himself even wished for his Dad, but he squished that part quickly. If Bruce was here right now he’d probably just lecture Jason on all the ways he fucked up. As if he needed any help with that.

Jason let his body go on autopilot for a moment, he barely registered himself opening the door wider to usher Carmen in. Sobs still wracked her body, and no matter how quickly she wiped her tears away, they just kept on coming and it didn’t look like she would be stopping any time soon. Before moving forward, she stooped down to pick up the carrier and it hit Jason again. A baby. His baby. Shit.

She quietly followed Jason into his apartment, taking the seat he offered her on the sofa and once again tried to stop the flow of tears. Jason had just enough presence of mind to scan the room for any of his gear he might’ve left lying about, and was relived that Carmen seemed too distracted to notice the gun he’d left lying on the coffee table. After subtly pushing it out of view, Jason turned to face Carmen. A faint voice in his head, that sounded suspiciously like Alfred, told him to reassure her, try to calm her down, but honestly, he was still reeling from the shock of the news himself, and was definitely not in the state of mind to comfort someone else. His eyes kept flicking over to the baby, as if she would disappear if stopped staring.

After a while, Carmen’s sobs seemed to subside, and she happily accepted the tissue Jason awkwardly offered her. She turned to look at him and tried to smile, but instead it appeared as more of a grimace.

“God, I am so sorry about that, I’m sorry about all of this actually. I should’ve told you sooner, and I did try.” She gave a humourless laugh and rubbed her eyes again. “You’re a pretty hard man to track down.”

Carmen’s eyes drifted down to the basket and she went still, her fingers anxiously drumming on her leg the only movement that gave away her nerves. The silence that fell on the room was almost too awkward for Jason to bare, and he felt the need to fill it quickly.

“So, uh, how did you find me?”

“Well, I tried asking the regulars at the bar we met at, but none of them knew who you were. The bartender recognised you but wasn’t sure where you lived, and she promised to ask around for me. I guess I got lucky that one of your neighbours heard about it and told me where you lived”

She started to trail off, and Jason was almost worried that they’d be left in silence again. There were so many questions Jason wanted to ask, like how old was she? Does she have a name yet? Do you want me to be part of her life? But he didn’t know where to start. He didn’t even know how to ask the question of 'what do you want me to do' politely. How did you even go about this conversation, was there even any social rules to follow about this sort of thing?

Luckily Carmen decided to put him out of his misery.

“I should probably explain why I’m here. I guess I just wanted to give her a chance before I-“ she paused for a moment, trying to find her words, “what I mean to say really is, I didn’t just want to put her into the system when there was a way for her to avoid it.”

The system. Carmen was going to put her baby – no - their baby, into Gotham’s fucking foster system. Jason felt the anger wash over him, a burning hot rage that left behind a chilling numbness in its wake. There was a reason he had chosen homelessness over the foster system as a child, and yeah, Batman had cleaned it up since he was younger, but it was still no place for a baby.

Carmen seemed to notice his distaste of the idea and rushed to try and explain herself.

“Look, I grew up in the system. Trust me when I say it’s my last choice” Carmen sighed. She leaned forward, resting her head on her hands. It was obvious how tired she was just by looking at her, and Jason felt himself calm down. She had been dealt with just as shit of a hand as the rest of them. “All I wanted was to get out of the system, and get the fuck out of Gotham the second I could. Being a Mom was never part of the plan. It ruined everything. 

“I thought maybe if I just got through the pregnancy it’d be fine, I’d feel that magical connection to her and it’d all be worth it, just like everyone says. But I- I just don’t feel anything. She’s just another problem in my shitty life and I just can’t handle it anymore. She’d be better off without me.”

Carmen ended her speech with her head in her hands, her shoulders slumped forward in shame, as if all the energy had left her body the second she confessed everything. The only movement visible from her was her eyes, which flickered from the baby, to Jason and then to the floor, in a nervous cycle as she waited for a verdict. Her stillness was practically infectious, as Jason’s mind went from going a hundred miles a minute, to completely empty.

The decision wasn’t exactly a conscious one, or at least, it didn’t take much thought on Jason’s part. There was only one clear option to Jason, and even though there were a thousand reasons for him not to, he knew he couldn’t let his kid be abandoned. A quiet acceptance washed over him, blocking out the small part of his brain that screamed all the reasons why he shouldn’t be a father, and there was only one more thing to know.

“So, what’s her name?”

Carmen jolted at the question, and stared at him in shock, as if she hadn’t expected him to respond at all, let alone positively. Jason met her eyes with steady gaze, trying to convey the true meaning of his question, and the way a relieved smile broke across her face told him it had worked.

“Her names Maxine. Maxine Peters. I thought it would be better if she had your surname, considering she probably wouldn’t want to be connected to the lady who ditched her”  
Maxine. It was a cute name, and Jason couldn’t think of anyone with the same name that he had negative associations with. An odd thing to be relieved about in the scheme of things, but still a win in his book. Maxine also fit Todd quite nicely, though much good that would do, considering Jason Todd was legally dead and she’d likely never use that name. Looking down at her, Jason admitted to himself that he couldn’t tell if she suited Maxine yet, she kinda looked like a generic new-born baby, squishy and pink, and swaddled up tight in a blanket. It hit him just how small she was, she couldn’t of been more than a few days old, and he felt something twist in his gut.

Jason couldn’t imagine being able to abandon something so small and vulnerable, not when they needed you to survive. Being able to just… leave them in the care of a practical stranger, with no intention of making sure they’d be okay, just didn’t sit right with him. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay in contact with her? We could probably work something out-“ Jason cut himself off as Carmen shook her head, frowning at her insistence.

“I know it sounds pretty shitty of me but I just want to forget about all this” Carmen sighed, “ I know what it feels like to have a parent that doesn’t give a fuck about you, and I’d rather not give her any hope that I could be anything better than that. It’ll be better for both of us if I just wasn’t in her life at all”

With that, Carmen stood up, taking a moment to take one last guilt-ridden look at Maxine, before addressing Jason. 

“I should probably go now. I wasn’t really planning on hanging around for long.” Her faced clearly expressed how she recognised how abrupt it was, and she gave an apologetic shrug, before turning to leave. Jason barely had time to stumble after her by the time she had reached the door. He wasn’t sure what this situation called for, but it didn’t feel right to let her leave so suddenly. Because if she left now, it would just be him and the baby, and it would all be too real.

“Do you need anything? I could-“ Carmen waved him off, pausing in the open doorway.

“No, it’s ok Todd, you’ve done more than enough already.” Her tone was weary, and Jason couldn’t help but cringe at the implications. “Take care of her for me, yeah? And again, I’m sorry about all this.”

Before Jason had time to respond, she was gone, leaving him standing in the doorway to process how quickly his life had made a 360. Carmen’s sudden exit had left him reeling, and he could almost feel his mental stability quickly unravelling. He took a few deep breaths and closed the door, giving himself a moment before he re-entered the living room to face Maxine.

He could do this. He was the Red Hood, he could run a criminal empire in his sleep, a baby should be nothing. It wasn’t even like he had never cared for a baby before, he used to babysit the neighbour’s kids regularly when he was younger, and even watched some of his current neighbours’ kids if he was free. Besides, no new parent really knew what they were doing, right? Bruce definitely didn’t have a clue what he was doing, and if he could learn then Jason sure as hell could too.

Jason swallowed the anxiety that was threatening to overwhelm him, and settled down in front of Maxine. He tilted forward, trying to get a better view of her, but in doing so his leg accidentally knocked the side of the carrier. In a heart stopping moment, Maxine’s face scrunched up into a little frown, and Jason braced himself for the crying he was sure to come. But instead, Maxine simply blinked awake, her eyes not really focusing on anything, before squirming to free her arms from the blanket wrapped around her.

Tentatively, Jason reached forward, untucking her arms, and getting a much better look at her. She had a few tufts of dark hair, and big brown eyes, that were trained on him, in a look Jason could only describe as judgy. He honestly couldn’t see much of a resemblance to himself, but then again most babies looked the same to him. She frowned again, lips turning into a pout and, ok maybe he could see a resemblance there. She reached at a tiny hand, pudgy little fingers grasping the air in a starfish motion, and Jason instinctively stuck out his finger for her to grab.

She instantly latched onto the finger, bringing it towards her mouth. The sensation of her wet gums sucking on his finger was kinda gross, but despite it, Jason couldn’t help the fond grin that grew on his face, as he stared down at his daughter in awe.

Maybe he could handle this parenting thing after all. After all, how hard could it be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that marks the first and last appearance of Carmen! Even though she only had a short appearance, I wanted to make sure you could understand why she decided to make the choice that she did, and see that even though it was pretty shitty on Jason you can't really blame her. Post-natal depression is a bitch, and combined with the expense of being a single mother, lack of social support and general bad timing, her choice is understandable.
> 
> On another note, I used to agree with Jason that all newborns look identical, until I saw my niece for the first time. She looked EXACTLY like her Dad in miniture form, to an extent that it was almost weird.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I had fun writing it, and I've already got the next chapter drafted so I'm hoping that I can get that finshed up soon. I might post some updates over on my tumblr @timbourinedrake, feel free to come hang out there!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason tries to survive his first day of parenthood without having a breakdown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's slightly shorter than the last one, and I haven't had time to proof read it yet, but I'm happy I managed to finish it in a week. I may have written this instead of doing my psychology work oops.

Jason could not handle it.

At first, it had been going as well as he could’ve hoped, Maxine seemed content with just lying there, eyes curiously roaming around as she sucked on his finger. Jason knew there was probably a ton of things he should be doing, but for a moment he had let his thoughts drift, letting himself enjoy the moment for what it was, rather than letting himself panic over the crippling pressure of being a father.

Eventually he pulled himself together and started creating a checklist in his head, trying to think of everything a baby would need. It briefly occurred to him that he could call Roy, he had been in almost the exact same situation and wouldn’t judge him, but there was something daunting about telling someone else. Roy would probably want to come to Gotham to help, which would no doubt alert the bats that something was up. Once they got involved, there would be no escape from their judgement and Jason knew for a fact he couldn’t face Bruce like this. Also, knowing Roy, he’d probably ask Jason how he felt about all this and in all honesty, Jason wasn’t sure he would be able to answer truthfully right now. Logically, Jason knew people would find out eventually, it was pretty much unavoidable with how nosy the bats were, but Jason was willing to delay the inevitable if it meant he got a few days to come to terms with his new reality.

After checking out a few parenting articles on his phone, (and promptly exiting them after getting overwhelmed by all the information), Jason had a rough idea of what he’d need to get for Maxine. Carmen hadn’t brought anything else with her, except a few diapers tucked into the side of the basket, along with her birth certificate and hospital records, so Jason had to make sure to cover all the basics.

He had a slight dilemma when he went to stand so that he could go get his laptop, only to be stopped by Maxine’s surprisingly firm grip. Jason was briefly torn between getting his laptop so that he could get everything ordered before she inevitably started crying, or staying so that he wouldn’t disturb her too much. He eventually risked pulling out of her grip, letting out a relieved breath when she didn’t kick off, and quickly getting his laptop before she had a chance to miss him too much.

Within an hour, Jason had a full basket of baby items, and was grateful that he had a stockpile of money left over from his crime lord days, because otherwise there would have been no way he could’ve afforded it all. It was mind-blowing just how much stuff there was for babies, and he may have gone slightly overboard when it had come to buying clothes, but who could blame him for getting the tiny wonder woman onesies, they were too cute not to.

He was mildly concerned that Barbara knew about his bank account and would notice the sudden increase in spending, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. At least with Barbara he could trust that she wouldn’t tell the others until she knew all the facts.

After a quick check on Maxine, only to find her asleep, Jason decided to go through all her records, just to make sure that there wouldn’t be any surprises later on. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with her, and the file confirmed that she was new born, barely a week old.

Another thing that caught his attention, was his alias. It had gotten him thinking about the issues concerning his civilian persona. The apartment he was currently living in was perfectly fine as a safehouse, but as a home it was less than ideal. Jason had avoided settling down anywhere properly, both for convenience and for the sake of not getting tied down anywhere. He’d lost his home too many times and the thought of putting effort into a home that would only be temporary, felt pointless. Although, now that he had a kid to worry about, getting an apartment, or maybe a house, was something he needed to consider.

Maxine had been pretty quiet during his shopping-spree-turned-internal-debate, and babies weren’t exactly known for being easy. So far Maxine had been no trouble. Jason should’ve known it was too good to last.

The only warning Jason had had before the screaming had started, was a small whine, which almost immediately dissolved into a full-blown cry. After an initial spike of panic, Jason hesitantly reached down into the basket, pulling the flailing baby out and cradling her against his chest. It wasn’t the first time he had ever held a baby, but somehow the fact that this was his baby, made him feel completely unexperienced. He found himself worrying over the way he was holding her, scared he was somehow fucking up. It was astonishing just how tiny Maxine was, the contrast between his hand and her head almost comedic.

Jason soon realised that simply rocking Maxine and hoping for the best was not going to work. All it seemed to achieve was in making screams increase in volume. He ran a mental checklist of all the reasons why she could be upset and Jason felt his stomach sink as he realised that he would probably be crying for a while. If it wasn’t her diaper that needed changing, then that would mean she was either hungry, or missing her mom. And currently, he could do nothing about either of those things.

A quick check confirmed that she didn’t need changing, and if the way Maxine was sticking her fingers in her mouth was any indication, a trip to the shops was needed.

“Come on Maxy, do you think you could wait for a bit?”

Jason didn’t know why he even attempted to talk to her, she was a baby, she didn’t understand the concept of waiting for food. All she knew right now is that she was hungry, and she sure as hell was making sure Jason knew it too. After one last failed attempt to quieten her, Jason placed her back into the basket and went to gather up his things as fast as possible. He was ready in under a minute, a new record, scooping Maxine up on his way out.

The short walk to the shops was less than pleasant, the rocking motion of the basket and change of environment not comforting Maxine like he had hoped it would. To make matters worse, Jason was painfully aware of how dodgy he currently looked. Maxine’s wailing gained a lot of attention, and combined with a Jason’s nervous appearance and hurried pace, he could only guess what they were thinking. If any of the bats saw him now he was sure ‘baby snatcher’ would be added to his list of offences.

Once he’d made it to his local grocery store, Jason instantly felt out of his depth. He balked at sheer amount of baby formula offered, why was there even so many different brands? Weren’t they all the same thing? He found himself blanking on what to do, Maxine’s screams not helping him think in the slightest.

Jason probably would’ve floundered all day if it wasn’t for a kind older woman taking pity on him. She had come up to him, gently asking him if he had needed any help, and when he had nodded a yes, she happily pointed out the best formula to buy. She recommended buying in bulk, ‘to be prepared’, and then proceeded to explain how to heat up a bottle and make sure it wasn’t too hot. Despite Jason feeling slightly embarrassed for having clearly looked so clueless, he was extremely grateful, and had made sure to thank her for her help. She had brushed him off, saying that it was no problem, and how she remembered how scary it was the first time was.

Jason had left the shop feeling more confident than when he had entered, rushing home so that Maxine could finally stop crying. He was sure crying for so long must’ve started to get painful and he kicked down the feeling of guilt. It didn’t matter if he was currently fucking up, as long as he could fix it.

The seconds seemed to drag, the few minutes it took for the milk to warm up feeling more like hours, as Maxine provided a grating backtrack. He had gotten her out of her basket again in a futile attempt to distract her from the hunger, but all it achieved was making him feel even worse, as it gave him a close up view of her red, tear streaked face. Once the milk was done, he manoeuvred her so that her head was resting against his collarbone and grabbed the bottle.

It was a dumb mistake, one that he wouldn’t have made if he was in his right state of mind. In his haste to feed Maxine, he had forgotten to check the temperature. The second it touched her lips, the screaming started again, this time at a much stronger intensity, and her head pushed to the side in an attempt to get away from the hot bottle.

Jason let out a long list of swears, putting the milk aside, before bouncing Maxine and shushing her.

“Shit Max, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. Fuck”

It was pretty much the last straw from him. The last bit of strength that had been holding him together for the last few hours leaving him all at once. Why he thought he could do this he didn’t know. She hadn’t even been with him a day, and he’d already managed to hurt her. Yeah, it wasn’t at all that bad, but she was still in pain because of him, and if he could manage to fuck this up, who knew how bad it could be the next time.

He shouldn’t have been surprised by it really. It wasn’t like he’d had the best role models to look up to. Willis was a shitty man, and an even worse father. He’d either been in jail, or making life harder for both him and his mom. Jason could count the amount of times Willis had resembled a good dad on one hand.

And then there was Bruce. It was hard to look back on the times before his death, and even harder to look past the green tinted haze of the lazurus pit. Back then, Bruce had been the best thing to ever happen to him. He had rescued Jason from the streets, given him an education and a life beyond the streets of Gotham. But most of all, Bruce had given him a home, a family. For the first time in his life, Jason had been cared for, without having to do anything in return. He would’ve done anything for Bruce, and he had paid for it.

Even if he didn’t mean to, Bruce had a habit of exploiting the love of his sons, twisting it to make loyal little soldiers who would follow him to the ends of the earth. It was a pattern that started with Dick and continued with his new little Robin, and it had made Jason furious when he had noticed. However, Jason could see now that Bruce probably never intended for it to be like that.

Bruce always had had the best intentions, infuriatingly so, but he was never the best at showing it. He had this intensity that pushed people to be their best, but inevitably pushed them to their limits. The arguments and hurt were unavoidable, and no matter how hard you tried to escape, he always found a way of dragging you back in. Bruce’s love was like a drug, it was addicting, and no matter how good it felt, you knew it would be the death of you.

Jason didn’t want to be like that. He didn’t want to hurt Maxine, didn’t want to mess her up the same way his dads did to him. But how could he not? He didn’t know what he was doing, and he didn’t even have a butler to help him when he messed up. Oh, what would he do to have Alfred here right now.

He barely registered the tears that had begun to fall, any remaining composure dissipating. It all felt so overwhelming, and all Jason wanted to do was quit. But he couldn’t, because this small human was depending on him whether he liked it or not, and he needed to face that.

“I’m sorry Max. I’m sorry you got stuck with me for a Dad.”

For the next several minutes Jason just sat there and cried, letting Maxine tire herself out as he rocked her gently. He felt himself go on autopilot, barely aware of anything other than the weight in his arms.

Eventually Jason tested the milk again, deeming it a safe enough temperature to drink. Max seemed wary of it at first, remembering the heat of last time, but soon changed her mind once she realised it as ok. If Jason wasn’t so tired, he would’ve found it funny how fast she guzzled it down.

At last, the apartment finally fell silent. Jason knew that it wouldn’t last for long, and that moments of peace would be much, much rarer now, so he let himself enjoy it. He wiped away the remaining tears on Max’s face, and as an afterthought wiped his eyes too.

Jason didn’t want to pretend it would get any easier, in fact he knew that this was only the beginning. He couldn’t let himself breakdown every time he felt overwhelmed, Maxine deserved better than that.

Pulling himself to together, Jason forced himself to smile down at Max, who stared curiously back at him.

“Its you and me now kid,” Jason said, voice barely more than a whisper, “we can do this, I’m going to try and be the best dad ever. Just you wait and see”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna find it so hard to use American instead of British terminology whilst writing this, if you spot me writing any nappies instead of diapers feel free to ignore it.
> 
> I have a lot of feelings about Bruce's parenting skills, and tried not to go on too much of a tangent about it this chapter, and I promise Bruce is gonna be a good dad (and grandpa) in this. Jason is obviously gonna be a biased narrator, and he struggles with comminicating how he really feels to his kids, so it's going to take a bit of work to get to a good point in thier relationship.
> 
> Next chapter features Dick, and possibly a few other bat siblings! If you want to see what I'm up to until then, come see me @timbourinedrake on tumblr ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick drops by to check on his little brother, expecting to find him injured. What he does not expect is a small baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, this is a day later than I planned it to come out, but tbh I'm just glad to have been able to finish it at all this week. But luckily all my exams are over now, so I'll have more time to work on this and actually proof read before posting.
> 
> I've also forgot to mention that this isn't set in any particular DC timeline, so it's set in a vague timeline made up of a bunch of different canons. Dw too much about it though.

To say Dick was worried was an understatement.

Nobody had heard from Jason in at least a week, and there had been no sightings of the Red Hood in Gotham at all. It was rare for Jason to be so quiet, he never really understood the concept of resting, even when he was seriously injured. It was a trait he shared with the rest of them, not that he’d ever admit to it. His silence wouldn’t have been quite as concerning as it was, if it weren’t for the fact that neither Roy nor Kory had heard from him either.

Jason tended to stay out of their way for the most part and hated it when any of them tried to check up on him, so for the most part they left him alone. But Dick couldn’t help but keep an eye on him and he knew Bruce was the same, the lingering fear of losing him again was too much to ignore. It was subtle, but Dick had noticed Bruce getting tenser and tenser as the week went on. Dick thought it was probably best if he found out what Jason was doing before Bruce had a chance to do anything stupid.

Dick had tried to get information about Jason out of Babs before he let himself panic. For all he knew, Jason was undercover, or was maybe taking time to plan a big bust. But Barbara turned out to be no help at all. She had brushed off his bugging and told him if he wanted to know, he should ask Jason himself. She seemed confident that Jason was fine, but Dick had known her a long time, and he could tell that she was worried about something, and that she wanted to check in on Jason too.

So that’s how Dick found himself standing in front of Jason’s shitty apartment, wondering if he should attempt to use the front door like a normal person, or just break in. If something was wrong with Jason, then breaking in was probably the only way of finding out, but if everything was actually ok, Jason would not appreciate it. He’d get kicked out before getting any straight answers and only achieve in pissing him off. Things had been ok between them, and Dick didn’t want to jeopardise that.

After weighing his options, Dick decided just knocking and hoping Jason would answer would be the safest bet. It was the middle of the day, so Jason shouldn’t be asleep, and if he didn’t answer then he didn’t have an excuse to complain when Dick broke in.

The apartment behind the door was silent as Dick waited, and he felt the nerves build up. It was probably nothing. Jason could handle himself; he’d proved that time and time again.

The sound of locks being undone was the only warning Dick had before the door swung open, revealing a dishevelled looking Jason. He couldn’t help himself from scanning his younger brother for any hints as to why he’d been missing from the field for a week, but he looked relatively unharmed. Jason looked bewildered at Dicks appearance, but his expression soon turned guarded and he shifted his body to block the entrance.

“Dick? What the fuck are you doing here,” Jason said in a hushed voice, “I don’t remember giving out my address.”

Dick simply grinned in response. Despite Jason’s accusatory tone, he didn’t seem to be genuinely mad. It was reassuring to see Jason and know that he was still his same old self, and Dick felt himself relax a little. There was still something odd going on, given by the way Jason was acting, but there didn’t seem to be any immediate trouble and that was something he could work with.

“Babs gave me the address, I would’ve given you some warning if I didn’t think you’d bolt,” he joked. Jason didn’t seem to appreciate it, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like ‘fucking Oracle’. Dick didn’t feel like dignifying it with a response.

The two fell into an awkward silence, Dick not sure how to continue and Jason seemingly content in watching Dick squirm under his gaze. Dick was kind of hoping that Jason would invite him in so that they could talk more privately, but Jason didn’t seem like he’d be moving anytime soon.

After a few moments, Jason decided to take pity on him and raised an eyebrow.

“So are you gonna say why you’re here or what? I’m a busy person, you know. I’ve got other shit I could be doing right now.” He said it in such a casual tone, that Dick wouldn’t have thought anything was off, if it wasn’t for the way Jason’s eyes flickered back into the apartment. Jason was a good actor, (as expected for someone trained by Bruce), but Dick knew his tells. Jason was definitely hiding something.

“I just wanted to check in with you, you’ve been-”

Dick didn’t even have time to finish his sentence before being cut off by a high-pitched cry. A baby’s cry. Coming from Jason’s apartment. Why was there a baby in Jason’s apartment.

Dick watched as his brother froze, a range of unreadable emotions crossing his face and which eventually settled into a look of resignation.

“Well shit. You woke her up,” Jason sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. “Guess there’s no hiding it now.”

Jason turned, walking back into his apartment, leaving the door open as an unspoken invitation for Dick to enter. Dick felt like his mind was lagging, unable to do anything except follow Jason in. His mind was scrambling for an answer, but in his surprise he couldn’t come up with anything.

“Uh Jay- Why do you have a baby?” Jason turned to give him a flat stare and pointed at the couch instead of replying to Dick’s (perfectly valid) question.

“Wait there, and don’t touch anything, I’ll be back in a sec,” and if sensing Dick’s rebuttal he continued, “Look, I promise I’ll explain just let me deal with Maxie first.”

Jason exited the room, leaving Dick reeling in confusion. Only a few moments later the crying trailed off, and the apartment was left in silence. This was not what Dick had expected to happen at all. Why did Jason even have a baby? Was he looking after them, or was it- was it his? Thousands of questions ran through his head and he found it hard to just sit and wait for Jason to return. But he’d promised to wait here, and he knew Jason was much more likely to answer his questions if Dick followed his instructions.

In the meantime, Dick searched the room for any hints to what might be happening. The apartment was quite nice, it was open plan and decently sized, with three doors leading off to different rooms. It was surprisingly messy for Jason, as Dick knew he usually hated clutter and preferred to be organised. When they were younger, Jason had liked to call Dick out for being slob and had often moaned about the state of his room.

There were a few empty packages stacked against one corner of the room and scattered around the room were small piles of clothing, as if Jason had attempted to sort through them but had been interrupted. On the floor was a baby basket, which was filled with blankets and stuffed toys, and Dick had to bite back a laugh when he saw a Red Hood plushie tucked into the blanket. From where he was sitting, Dick could see that the kitchen counter was covered in milk bottles in different states of cleanliness, and one of stools had been replaced by a highchair.

It was pretty obvious just from looking around that the baby was staying with Jason long term, possibly even permanently and Dick itched with curiosity.  
Dick had just stood back up to snoop a bit more closely when Jason re-entered the room carry a small baby. Like, seriously small. Jason shot him an accusing look, which made Dick smile guiltily back before sitting back down.

He forced himself to be patient as Jason walked closer, but as soon as Jason joined him on the couch he couldn’t stop himself from leaning closer for a better look. Jason seemed apprehensive at first, holding the baby closer to him, as if Dick were going to snatch them away from him. He soon relaxed though, and tilted his arms, letting Dick get a first real look.

The baby was really freaking adorable. They had the chubbiest cheeks Dick had ever seen, and eyes almost too big for their face. But what really made Dick’s breath leave him was how much they resembled Jason when he first arrived at the manor, the nose and the lips almost a perfect replica of his brothers, with a mop of curly dark hair to match. There was no doubt in Dick’s mind that this was Jason’s kid. The only question left was how the hell did Jason manage to hide a whole kid, and Dick found himself speaking before he could think.

“Where did you get a baby from?”

Jason snorted, a bit of tension leaving his posture.“You see Dickie, when a man and a woman-”

“Shut up, you know what I meant,” Dick bumped his shoulder into Jason, careful not to jostle him too much.

Jason paused and took his time to form a response. He chewed his lip and looked down at the little bundle in his arms. Dick couldn’t help but notice how he was determinedly avoiding eye contact.

“I found out about her last week. She was an accident, and her Mom didn’t want the responsibility,” Jason tone remained steady, but Dick could see the anger in his gaze. “I couldn’t just let her put Max into the system, not when it wasn’t her fault that we fucked up.”

Dick hesitated before asking his next question, scared of how Jason would react.

“Was her Mother…Was she anyone we would know?”

Jason’s head jerked up, meeting Dick’s eyes with a hard glare. “She wasn’t a criminal if that’s what you’re trying to imply. Just a hook up that went wrong. I doubt I’ll be hearing from her again.”

Dick decided to drop the topic before he pissed Jason off any further. This was the most open Jason had been with Dick in a while and Dick didn’t want to spoil it. He had missed the times when he and Jason had just been able to talk before the fights and the baggage came between them. He wanted his brother back in his life, back in the family, but Jason rejected any attempt that Dick (or any of the family members) made to reach out.

But Jason was here now, letting Dick meet his daughter, and talking to him without any outright hostility. It gave Dick more hope than he wanted to admit, and he did not want to miss this opportunity to reconnect.

Plus, no matter how much Jason denied being family, he was still Dick’s little brother, and he refused to let Jason deal with this alone. He remembered when Lian was born and how stressed Roy had been, and that had been with the support of friends and family. Dick wanted to be there for Jason and his new niece, and he wouldn’t let Jason push him away, no matter how hard he tried. 

“She’s really cute, I don’t know how you managed to make something so sweet.” Dick reached out and stroked a finger across her cheek, relishing in how soft it felt. He looked up expecting to see a scowl at his tease, but halted when he was Jason’s soft expression.

“Yeah, I don’t know how I did either.”

There was something so painfully vulnerable in Jason’s admission, and Dick felt like it would be best not to comment on it.

“So, tell me all the details, when’s her birthday? And what should I write on the birthday cards?” 

Jason looked relieved at the change of subject, and began to tell Dick everything about Max - well Maxine Catherine ‘Peters’. Dick grinned as Jason grumbled about the amount of shit a newborn produced, and couldn’t even hold back his laughter when Jason described his first diaper-changing experience.

Conversation continued for a while longer, never broaching anything too serious and filled with awkward pauses, but still managing to be meaningful. Dick couldn’t help but get distracted by Max and found himself putting on ridiculous voices when speaking to her, which Jason enjoyed making fun of. Jason may laugh at him, but he couldn’t say much either, his voice turning just as soppy.

But alas, like always, the peace couldn’t last and the conversation turned serious again. During one of the lulls in conversation Jason’s expression clouded, eyebrows pulling together in a frown and he cleared his throat in an obviously forced attempt to gain Dick’s attention.

“Look Dick, as nice as this has all been, you can’t tell anyone about this. Especially not Bruce.”

Dick grimaced, he had been expecting this from Jason, but it didn’t make him any more prepared for it. There was no way Bruce wouldn’t find out about this, it was basically his job to know everything, and telling him would probably prevent a lot of problems. Bruce would be able to provide a lot of support, and would guarantee Max’s safety, not to mention stop him from jumping to conclusions about what Jason was hiding and starting an unnecessary fight.

And on top of all the practical reasons, Dick thought Bruce deserved the chance to meet his granddaughter. Despite all his flaws, Bruce loved his family and would do almost anything for him. Dick knew how hard it was for him to come to terms with missing the first ten years of Damians life, and Dick didn't want to put Bruce through that again.

“Little wing, I don’t think-”

“No Dick, you don’t have the right to decide who gets to know.” Jason’s face darkened and his words came out with a harsh bite, something more akin to his Red Hood voice. “I don’t want Bruce to use this as an excuse to come back into my life and control me. Knowing him he’ll probably try and take her away from me because I’m an unstable killer or some other bullshit.”

Dick sighed. He wanted to argue that Bruce would never do something like that, but then again he never did make the best choices, his history with Jason proof enough. And besides, arguing with Jason about Bruce was pointless, nothing said would be able to convince him that Bruce still cares. Only Bruce would be able to do that.

“Fine. I can’t promise that they won’t find out, but I won’t be the one to tell them.” Jason seemed satisfied with his response but Dick wasn’t quite finished. “But you need to promise me one thing Jay. Promise me that you’ll call me if you need help with anything, even if you just need a break. You shouldn’t have to do this alone and I’m here to support you.”

Dick pinned Jason with a look, making sure he understood how serious he was. Jason looked like he wanted to disagree, but the stress of the last week seemed to change his mind and he simply nodded in acceptance. 

“You also need to tell some people you can trust. I don’t want you to be alone in this, and I know you’d probably feel more comfortable talking to someone other than me. Just make sure that you have someone you can ask for help if you need it, I want just to know you’ll be ok.” 

A small look of shock at the genuinity of concern in Dick’s voice flashed across Jason's face, and Dick felt his heart break a little over the fact that Jason would feel shocked that his brother would care about him. 

“Ok. I was gonna tell Roy and Kory soon anyways, I just wanted to feel ready first.” Jason’s agreement was enough for now, and Dick decided he would push the matter more another day. Dick gave Jason a warm smile, which turned into a full grin when Jason responded with a reluctant one of his own.

“Good. Now that our serious talk is over, I would like to hold my niece. Frankly I’m offended I haven’t been offered the chance sooner.” 

And as Jason passed Maxine over, lecturing Dick on how to hold her as he did, the room’s atmosphere felt a little lighter. Dick knew that the issues between Jason and himself hadn’t been fixed, and that they were still a long way off from becoming a proper family again, but holding Max in his arms, with Jason fussing next to him, Dick felt the hope begin to bloom in his chest. 

Things may not be perfect now, but there was a chance that it could be. And if Dick had his way, it will be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really really love Dick and Jason's realtionship, it reminds me a lot of my relationship with my little sister, so I enjoyed writing this a lot. I just want them to be close brother's again, is that too much to ask?
> 
> The next chapter should include a range of Batfamily members, although that may change depending on how long the chapter ends up (like this one oops). After that, my plan gets a little vague, but hopefully I can get this wrapped up in a few more chapters, and start writing the sequels :)
> 
> Anyways, that's all I have to say for now, and thank you for all the comments and kudos! They really motivated me to get this chapter finshed as soon as possible. I love to hear you're feed back, and if you wanna drop any Dad!Jason ideas on me, you can come talk to me on tumblr @timbourinedrake. Byeeeeee


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason goes through the motions, and bonds with his daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So I know I'm two weeks late posting this, my bad. I really struggled with the start of this chapter for some reason, and it ended up turning into something completely different than from what I planned. 
> 
> Still, this chapter ended up being very long, so I decided to split it into two, just so that I could get this chapter out finally. Hope you guys enjoy!

Jason sighed, falling backwards to lay sprawled across his bed. He’d finally gotten Maxie to sleep for her afternoon nap, after she had been particularly fussy that morning and he was exhausted. It hadn't helped that he'd been running on fumes since getting home from his first patrol in weeks, and now all that he wanted to do was sleep. 

Dick had tried to persuade him against going out, saying it was too risky now that he had a kid who needed him, but he’d eventually given in when Jason argued with him.If the Red Hood didn’t make an appearance soon, criminals would take it as a chance to go wild, not to mention it’d get Bruce off his back. Dick had agreed to watch Max for the night, whilst Jason patrolled his section of Gotham and checked up on the working girls and street kids that he usually kept an eye on. It’d been nice to stretch his legs after weeks inside. Despite promising to keep out of any serious trouble, he had still gotten into a few fights that had required stitches (and a subsequent lecture from Dick). 

Now he was slightly regretting the decision, his body ached from the lack of practice, and he felt a headache forming. Still, he'd never let on to Dick that he might've been right.

Scraping together the small bit of energy he had left, Jason willed himself to get up and work whilst Max was asleep. It was ridiculous how little time he had to work on cases, considering how babies literally don't do anything. The only time he really had was when she was fast asleep, which only gave him a few hours of productivity a day. Recently he'd been splitting his free time between working cases to feel useful, and working out how to sort out the shit-show that was his and Maxine's civilian records.

Usually all he needed was an identity solid enough to pass a quick background check, only needing a more detailed one if he was going undercover for a case, and those identities got ditched pretty fast. There had never been a reason for him to have anything more than that considering he didn’t even have a job, but apparently if he wanted to have full legal custody of Max, and for Max to even exist on the system, he needed to have an airtight civilian identity.

Normally this wouldn’t have been an issue for Jason. He wasn’t a computer genius like Babs or the replacement, but he could still hack government files like they were nothing. The problem he was facing right now, was the lack of decent equipment. With an advanced system like the Batcomputer it would’ve been quick and easy, if a bit tedious, but all Jason had was a shoddy laptop and a slow router. It made the whole process a lot more difficult, and on top of that, he kept getting distracted Maxine, leading to a lot of stupid errors.

Honestly, he should probably just call Babs and ask for a favour. She definitely already knew, if the surprise delivery of Batgirl baby grows were anything to go by. It was just pride keeping him from asking at this point, and he felt his will breaking.

Jason krept out of the room, careful not to wake Max, before heading over to the kitchen. He really needed a coffee. As he waited for the water to boil, he decided to prepare a bottle for Maxine ready for when she awoke. She’d been cranky ever since Dick had left that morning, and Jason just wanted the rest of the day to go as smoothly as possible. It was pretty much muscle memory now to make a bottle, and it never failed to hit Jason with how surreal it felt. He’d gone from fighting crime every night, to domestic routines like this being his new normal.

The weirdest thing was though, was that he didn’t even mind. Since coming back, life had been about the mission, and the mission only.  
Yeah his goals had changed, he’d long since given up on the revenge gig, but he’d never actually stopped the fight at all. He didn’t have a normal life to return to, no reason to slow down or take a break, and then there was the small part of him that was actually scared to stop. Because if he did stop, then he’d be forced to acknowledge how much he’d really lost, and how much that actually hurt him.

Maxine was almost a wake up call. Her arrival had forced him to stop, forced him to actually participate in the normal world again and realise how the way he’d lived before, wasn’t really living. Now he couldn’t just ignore everything outside of the world of vigilantes and villains, pretending that he was fine without a family, without a home, because that wouldn’t be fair on Max. He needed to get his shit together and make sure that his issues had no way of hurting Max, no matter what he had to do. He wouldn’t repeat his parent’s mistakes.

Besides, Jason actually found himself quite enjoying domestic life. It reminded him of back when it was just him and his Mom, when the biggest worry was what was for dinner, and making sure they had clean clothes. One night he even found himself absentmindedly humming along to one of his Mom’s favorite songs whilst putting Max to bed, the one she used to sing to him when he was a kid. He’d had to choke back the sudden urge to cry. He missed her a lot. She would’ve adored Maxie.

Jason shook himself out of his thoughts and went to grab his laptop and files, preparing himself for an hour or two of research. According to some of the working girls, a new trafficking ring had set up shop in the east end, and Jason wanted to shut it down fast. It’d be tedious work without actually going out to collect evidence himself, but it’d do, and then once he had enough information to take them down, he’d hand it over to Dick to deal with. Despite itching to take them down himself, he couldn’t let himself take any big risks, not when there was no one to look after Max if anything happened to him.

Once he started on the work, time seemed to fly by and before he knew it, the alarm on his phone went off, telling him that it was time to wake up Max. He was tempted to just let her sleep a little longer, just so that he wouldn't lose his train of thought, but he knew from experience that if Max overslept now, he’d be suffering the consequences later.

When he opened the door to the bedroom, Jason was greeted by the sound of soft snores that brought a smile to his face. 

Max was still fast asleep, looking comically small in the crib he’d constructed for her, her cheeks flushed from all the blankets she was swaddled in. 

She looked so content that he almost didn’t have the heart to wake her. Almost.

“Come on, wake up sleepy head,” Jason whispered, reaching out to lightly poke her cheek. “Time for you to wake up now.”

Jason grinned as Max’s eyes fluttered open, eyes briefly unfocused before zeroing in on his face. Recently she’d started to become more and more responsive to him, and Jason wouldn’t deny how happy that made him. 

Reaching into the crib, Jason pulled her out and gave her a kiss on the forehead, extracting a happy little gurgle from Max. After a quick check Jason determined that a diaper change was needed, as well as an outfit change too, and he made fast work of it. His tolerance for grossness was much higher than most people’s, but it never made the job any more pleasant.

After that he carried Max back into the living room, walking her over to the bookshelf that was crammed full of all his favorites. He only briefly skimmed the shelf before deciding to go with Alice in wonderland, and then went over to the couch to get settled. He’d read on some parenting site that the best thing to do with a newborn was to talk to them, as it doubled as a bonding experience as well as helping with their development. 

At first, Jason had felt pretty dumb talking aloud, as he didn’t have much to actually talk about. It felt weird talking to Max when all she did was stare back at him, and maybe blow a spit bubble. Dick seemed to have no problem with talking to her though, and often asked her questions in full seriousness, as if expecting her to actually reply. He happily brushed off Jason's comments about sounding like a crazy person. 

It was actually Lian who’d suggested reading to her, after listening to Jason worry on the phone for an hour. Roy had been calling regularly after Jason had broken the news, and despite being unable to to help in person, due to issues in Star City, he’d been a life saver. 

Lian often joined the calls, begging for pictures of Max, and lecturing Jason on what to do, as if she was the experienced parent on call. Most of her advice was based on how she played with her dolls, and a few were subtle jabs at Roy’s parenting, but when she’d heard that Jason needed ideas on what to do with Max, she actually gave some solid advice. Honestly, Jason was pretty embarrassed that he hadn’t thought of it himself.

It’d become a daily routine to sit down with Max and read aloud to her, and it was now the favorite part of his day. It wasn’t particularly productive, but it was a good way to pass the hours in a way that was enjoyable for Jason, as well as being stimulating for Max. 

Jason wiggled around to get into a comfortable position, eventually ending up with his back propped up against the arm on one end, with his legs spread out along the rest of the couch. Maxine rested on his chest, lying face down with bits of his shirt grasped in her hands. At almost 6 weeks now, she was finally able to lift her head, and was taking full advantage of it, her head tilting up so she could stare at his face. 

“Hey there gorgeous, whatcha looking at.” 

Jason reached out and gave her nose a tap snorting at how she blinked back with a startled look on her face. But to Jason’s astonishment, a full blown smile appeared on Max’s face, and he couldn’t stop himself from beaming back at her. It was the first time she’d ever smiled, and the warmth that blossomed in Jason’s chest was indescribable.

He had the sudden urge to call everyone he knew to boast about the sudden development, but was quickly brought back to earth when he realised that the only people he could tell were Dick and Roy. Kory was currently offworld, meaning he couldn’t tell her, and he wasn’t close enough to anyone else. The reminder of his lack of friends stung a little.

Still, even that couldn’t damper his sudden boost in happiness, and he gave Max a peck on the cheek, relishing in the second smile she gave him. He spent another few minutes simply staring back at her, finding himself copying her facial expressions, before beginning to read. 

Moments like this, made everything worth it.

* * *

Jason had just finished serving up his dinner when Dick arrived, making his check in before patrol. He didn’t even bother to say hi before swooping past Jason and making a beeline to where Max was sitting, picking her up and smothering her with kisses.

After a moment of cooing, he finally seemed to remember that Jason was there too, and turned to him with a grin.

“Hey little wing.”

Jason gave him a blank stare and closed the door behind him, before heading over to the kitchen to grab Dick some food. He always timed his visits perfectly whenever Jason ate, and he had a suspicion it wasn’t unintentional, no matter what he claimed.

“Nice to know who the favorite is here. I feel really appreciated.” Sarcasm dripped from his tone, and he was rewarded with a snort from his older brother. 

“You know I love you too, no need to feel left out.” Despite the amused look on his face, Dick’s voice was sincere, and Jason could feel the affection behind those words. He gave a short scoff in reply and then busied himself with loading up a plate for Dick, to distract himself from the way it made him feel.

It was surprising how well he and Dick were actually getting along recently, and he never would’ve thought he’d actually feel grateful for his brother’s clinginess. Jason had expected more fighting, more annoyance at his overbearing nature, but in all honesty, he didn’t know if he’d be able to cope without him. Dick’s regular drop ins were a source of reassurance in Jason’s life, and it gave him time to take time for himself, or a person to vent to, who wasn’t hundreds of miles away.

There was an unspoken ‘no arguing around the baby’ rule that both of them dared not to break, both of them steadfastly ignoring any controversial topics. Things between them actually started to feel like how they did before he went and died, and Jason no longer felt like the peace between them would shatter at any moment. 

It was nice.

Dick usually spent an hour or two before patrol at Jason’s, and it was a mystery to Jason as to how none of the bats had seemed to catch on to it. He’d asked Dick about it, but all he received was a wiggle of the eyebrows and an infuriating ‘I have my ways’.

Jason quickly finished serving up some lasagna for Dick, and almost the second he placed the dish down, Dick was over in a flash. He still had Max cradled in his arms, seeming happy to ignore the baby dribble on his shirt, focusing on eating one-handed instead. 

“Oh my God, how did you manage to make it better than Alfred’s,” Dick moaned, “It’s so good.”

Sitting down to eat his own dish, Jason laughed. “Don’t let Alfie hear you say that, pretty much all the ingredients were shopbought.”

Dick gave a sheepish grin before diving back into his food, chattering on about his day between mouthfuls. How he didn't choke was beyond Jason. 

It was after he’d asked Jason about his day, when the topic of legalities and identities was brought up. Jason had complained about how hard it was to sort it all out, and had admitted that he was planning to ask Barbara for help. To his dread, Dick got the look on his face that he got when he was planning something. It was a mix of thoughtfulness, hesitation, with a hint of a smirk, and Jason never liked what it meant.

Suddenly Dick’s expression turned to a feigned look of concern, and he tapped his chin as though he was thinking. 

“Hmmmm, I don’t know about that Jase. Barbara is pretty busy right now, I don’t know if she’d be able to help very much.”

Bullshit. Jason sent a glare to Dick, only to be met with a smirk. Jason did not like the way this was going.

“And what’s that she’s busy with then?”

Dick waved his hand around in a vague manner. “You know. Busy. With stuff.”

Jason forgot how infuriating his brother could be sometimes, and if Dick wasn’t currently holding his kid, he’d try to chuck something at him.

“Where are you going with this?”

“Why would you think I was going anywhere with this?”One look at Jason's face and Dick finally dropped the act. “Ok ok, I’ll stop. You know who’d be great help right now?”

Jason frowned, resting his head in his hands. That headache from earlier seemed to be making an appearance again.

“I don’t know, who?”

“Tim.”

Jason’s head shot up, piercing Dick with an ice cold glare.

“No.”

“Yes.” Dick’s tone was firm, fully serious and Jason found it hard to believe that Dick thought that was in any way a good idea.

“No, no fucking way is that happening. Why would I want to involve the Bats.”

“Because they’re your family?” Dick tentatively replied. Jason scoffed.

“Sure. He’d probably go reporting straight back to Batman the second he found out.” 

This time it was Dick who glared.

“Tim’s not like that and you know it. They’ll all find out eventually, and it’ll be better if you have more people supporting you when they do.” Jason knew that ‘They’ mostly meant Bruce, and it sucked to know Dick had a point. 

Dick’s expression softened slightly and he shifted Max into a more comfortable position, so that he was able to reach out and nudge Jason.

“Look I know you two aren't exactly close, but Tim would be a lot of help, and I’m sure he'd love to meet Maxie.”

After a short, intense stare off, Jason relented. It was no good fighting Dick on this when his mind was so set on the idea, and he knew Dick was right in saying it would make everything easier.

“Fine. He can help.” Jason paused, glaring at Dick’s smug face before pointing a finger at him and continuing. “But he’s not allowed to tell anyone else, and don’t think this means that everyone else gets to know either.”

“Don’t worry about it, I promise that it’ll just be Tim, I don’t expect you to suddenly open up to everyone.” 

Dick stood up and rounded the counter, picking up the dirty dishes whilst also managing to carry Max without jostling her too much. He dropped them into the sink, and then turned his attention onto Max, blowing a raspberry on her cheek and grinning as he received a smack on the face from her tiny little hand. For a moment Jason had thought that he was done with the conversation, but Dick continued speaking.

“I’ll tell Tim to stop by after patrol tonight, you can give him the run down then.”

Jason scowled. He really didn’t want to deal with it tonight. He’d prefer to catch a few decent hours of sleep, instead of having to wait up until god knows when for the replacement to show up. But if he was going to do this, he might as well get it over and done with quickly, there was no point in prolonging it.

“Just make sure he knows not to enter through the bedroom window. If he wakes Max, I am not responsible for what will happen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ,,,So I know I promised Tim this chapter but I ended up going on a 2k waffle before even getting close to Tim's appearence. Next chapter, I promise.
> 
> I'm gonna be pretty busy this week, so I'm unsure if I get it written in time, and I've also got my secret santa project to finish, so I can't promise a quick update, but I should manage to get it done by new years at the latest.
> 
> Thanks so much for the kudos and comments! I love to hear everyone's thoughts and feelings about Jason, and I'm so glad people seem to be enjoying it. Till next time, goodbye!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! 
> 
> First up I have to say I am so sorry that it's been so long since the last chapter. I ended up participating in a secret santa, which took up my writing time before christmas, and then lockdown 2.0 happened, and the change to online school again completely threw me off. I am not very good at motivating myself without structure apparently.
> 
> So as part of my apology here's an extra long chapter! 3k of pure self indulgence lmao

It was well past midnight when Jason was awoken to a soft tapping sound, and after a moment of grogginess he jolted upright, realising that the sound was coming from the window, not from the front door. His mind went into full defensive mode, going through all reasons why someone would be at his window, when he remembered.

That’s right. Tim was meant to be making a visit tonight.

He must’ve fallen asleep at some point during the wait, and now his neck was stiff from laying on the couch in an odd position. Jason stretched, twisting his back in order to get a decent view of the window. 

He was greeted by the sight of Red Robin awkwardly hanging from his grappling line, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to see into the apartment. He was about to knock again when he spotted Jason. His fist turned into a hesitant wave, and he flashed a nervous smile, before he pointed at the window lock, asking to be let in. 

Jason was pretty tempted to just let him hang there all night and ignore him completely, but thought better against it. No matter how much he didn’t want to do this, it was too late to go back now that Tim’s curiosity was peaked, and he’d probably just show up again at a more inconvenient time.

Jason made his way over to the window, dragging out his movements to be as slow as possible, just to be irritating. It was funny to watch Tim, as he struggled to keep his composure, and he couldn’t help laughing when Tim tilted his head back to let out a groan.

Eventually Jason reached the window, and after exaggerating the time it took to open the locks, Tim tumbled through the window, shooting a quick glare at Jason as he brushed himself off.

“Could you have gone any slower, my arm was starting to go numb” He moaned, rubbing his arm for emphasis. Jason sent him a smirk before walking away.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jason said, knowing full well how annoying he was being. He was halfway across the room when he looked back at Tim, who was still hovering by the window. “You coming to help or what?”

“God, you’re just as annoying as Dick,” Tim bit back, as he finally moved to follow Jason. Even though his mask hid his eyes, Jason could tell that Tim was subtly scanning his apartment, just as Dick had the first time he’d arrived. Bruce sure knew how to pass on his paranoia. 

“You still haven’t even told me what I’m helping with. Dick wouldn’t say when I asked.” And Jason was sure that he had asked, a lot. From the few times he had worked with Tim, he knew the boy liked to know what he was getting into, and getting a sudden request from Jason was sure to bring up a lot of questions.

Jason paused in front of his bedroom door, and shook off his nerves. After this, there would be no going back. But Jason trusted Dick, and if Dick said he could trust Tim with this secret, then he would. 

“Hold your horses, I’m gonna show you what I need help with. Just remember, you’re not allowed to tell anyone else about it.” Tim shot him an incredulous look and opened his mouth to protest, but Jason quickly shushed him.

“Don’t worry, it’s not anything illegal, it’s just that Bruce cannot find out about this, ok? Now you have to be quiet.” That was the only warning Jason gave him before pushing open the door and heading in. Tim followed behind and let out a small gasp, indicating that he’d spotted Maxine.

Tim turned to Jason instantly, spluttering out a few incomprehensible words before pointing at Max.

“You kidnapped a baby! I thought you said this wasn’t illegal” He whispered harshly, glaring up at Jason. Jason shot a glare right back and ushered him out of the room hurriedly, closing the door and sending Tim a sharp look.

“Do you really think Dick would let me kidnap a baby? She’d mine genius.”

Jason watched as all the fight left Tim at once and left him looking sheepishly back at him. 

“Oh. Yeah that makes a lot more sense, sorry about that.” Tim’s eyes flittered from Jason to the door, as if he could see Maxine through it somehow. “I guess I just jumped to conclusions. I can definitely see why you don’t want B to know yet.”

“Yeah, no shit sherlock.”

An awkward silence filled the air, neither of them sure how to break it. It occurred to Jason in that moment that the two of them had never been alone like this before, at least not without being actively focused on a mission. And now that he was alone with him in the quiet of his apartment, Jason felt the weight of all that he did to Tim hang between them unaddressed. 

He’d never apologised for the way he treated Tim at the start, for all the misdirected resentment. It was easy to brush aside and ignore when they teamed up, but now that there were no masks to hide behind, no mission to distract, the guilt felt suffocating.

Jason turned rapidly and tried not to make it look like he was trying to escape the silence, and he headed over to the couch where he’d last left his laptop. Tim didn’t mention how strange Jason was acting, but from the confused look he kept shooting Jason, he’d definitely noticed it. He moved to sit next to Jason, leaving just enough space between them so that he wasn’t crowding but could still see the screen.

“So, what’d you need my help with. I assume it’s not to babysit.” Tim asked. It was clear that he wanted to ask a bunch of different questions, but could obviously see that Jason wasn’t in the mood to answer any of them. It relieved Jason more than he wanted to admit, and he felt the tension he hadn’t noticed he had leave him. Tim was going to help. He wasn’t going to tell Bruce.

Loading up a few documents, Jason turned to face the screen towards Tim, and let him read over all the files as he explained what he needed to be done.

“Usually I wouldn’t need this much help with this, but I’ve never had to make an identity this secure before, and I just don’t have the right equipment for it. It needs to be good enough for me to be able to pass in court if I have to.”

“And even pay taxes?” Tim joked, a smile working its way onto his face. Jason groaned.

“Yeah, even taxes. I didn’t realise becoming a living person again in the eyes of the law would require so much work.” Jason fell back and rested his head against the sofa, and watched as Tim sorted through the files on the laptop.

“You’ve done a pretty thorough job already, I’ll probably just need to solidify your history, make sure you’re not connected to any past cases, that sort of thing. It’ll probably take a few hours but it shouldn’t be too hard…” Tim tapped his fingers against the side of the laptop in thought, and hesitently glanced towards Jason. He opened and closed his mouth a few time, clearly working out whether or not he should ask his next question.

“Although…the easiest thing to do would be to declare you alive again.”

“No.” Jason’s answer was instantaneous, and he felt his whole body tense at the suggestion and he glowered at Tim. Tim met his glare head on, all hesitance gone, replaced with a rushed determination. 

“But if we bring you back, no one would question our connection to you and Maxine, not to mention she’d get the best quality education. Besides, Bruce already has all the plans in place for if you wanted to return it’d be so easy- ”

“I said no, so drop it.” Jason growled, which successfully shut Timup. He tried not to let the revelation that Bruce had plans to legally resurrect him affect him too much, he couldn’t let himself think about what that implied. He couldn’t let himself start thinking about being an official part of the family again, a real Wayne, and not just the forgotten black sheep. 

And asides from that, Jason just didn’t want Maxie to have that life. Being a Wayne again would shove both of them straight into Gotham’s limelight. Not only would that bring a whole lot of unwanted attention, limiting how ‘normal’ their life would be, but it would also put a target on their back. It didn’t matter if they tried to keep it on the downlow, because someone would find out eventually, and Jason wasn’t willing to risk it.

He could feel Tim searching his face, but he quickly realised there was no way of changing Jason’s mind. He sighed and pursed his lips, before getting back to work on Jason’s files, pulling a USB stick out of a compartment on his suit and sticking it into the laptop.

“Fine, I’ll just make a copy of everything you’ve got already. I’ll bring you back a copy of everything when I’m done.” Jason just grunted in confirmation, and that seemed to be enough for Tim.

The room fell silent, only filled by the sound of Tim’s typing, and after a short minute he was done, pulling the USB out of the laptop and handing it back over to Jason, before moving towards the window.

“I’m just gonna go now, it probably won't take too long.” Tim looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead of saying anything he just shook his head and moved to climb out the window. 

Admittedly, Jason felt a little guilty for ending things on such a sour note when Tim was going out of his way to help him. If he wanted this whole family thing to work, if he wanted Max to have a family, he actually needed to try and make an attempt to reach out to them. Relationships go two ways, and if he wasn’t willing to put in the effort, then he shouldn’t complain if they went wrong. And if they did, then at least he’d know it wasn’t because he didn’t try.

So with that thought, Jason called out.

“Hey Tim? Thanks a lot for this. It- It’s a really big help.” Jason scratched the back of his neck in awkwardness, cringing at how forced he sounded. But apparently Tim didn’t seem to mind, if the smile was anything to go by.

“No problem Jason. It’s what brothers are for.” And with that, Tim climbed out the window and vanished into the night, oblivious to the shellshocked Jason he left behind.

* * *

The next morning Jason was woken up by Max, just as the sun was beginning to rise. He was hoping to get a few more hours sleep, due to Max waking having a quick feed some time around 4, but he just wasn’t that lucky.

He set about his morning routine, changing Max’s diaper and getting her into fresh clothes, and then laying her back in the crib, leaving him free to quickly get himself ready for the day. 

At the beginning when he was still completely new to the whole parenting thing, Maxine would cry the whole 5-10 minutes it took Jason to rush through his own morning routine, and he felt horrible about it. But at some point she seemed to pick up on the routine, realising that she didn’t have to cry in order to get food after Jason had woken. She now lay happily gurgling in her crib, patiently waiting for Jason to get her breakfast.

Jason had just finished feeding and burping Max, and was just about to get started on his own breakfast when there was a light knock on the front door. Dick hadn’t mentioned that he was coming round today, but it wasn’t unlike him to pop round unannounced. Jason shuffled to the floor, shifting Max in his arms so that he’d have a hand free, as he opened the door.

But to his surprise, it wasn’t Dick at all. Standing in his doorway fidgeting was Tim Drake, dressed in a full suit like he was about to step into the boardroom. Before Jason had a chance to speak, Tim gave a tentative wave.

“Hi Jason, uh, hi Maxine,” Tim said unsurely, before holding up a small folder with a triumphant grin. “I finished finalising all the documents this morning, and thought I could drop them off on the way to work.”

Jason stared as Tim passed him the folder, slightly bewildered at the speed Tim had managed to complete it by. He had expected Tim to put it on his to-do list, maybe getting it back in a few days or so. Jason took another look at Tim, and noticed the dark rings beneath his eyes.

“Jesus Timbo, did you even sleep last night.” Jason tilted his head, indicating to Tim to come in. Tim shook his head with a tired chuckle, and then entered the apartment, taking more time to look around then he did the night before.

“I had a nap earlier. I thought you’d want this as soon as possible, in case anything happened. I just thought this was important,” Tim shrugged. “Besides I can just nap between meetings, it’s no big deal.”

Jason scoffed but didn’t say anything else, and instead passed Max into Tim’s arms. Tim immediately stiffened, as he clumsily adjusted his hold on her and looked at Jason panicked. It took all of Jason's willpower not to just burst out laughing.

“I’m gonna assume you haven’t eaten yet, so I’m making breakfast. Watch Maxie for me.” Jason said as he walked back into the kitchen. He set about putting the coffee on and then gathered everything needed to make scrambled eggs, occasionally shooting glances to make sure Tim wasn’t going to drop his daughter.

It took Tim a few minutes of maneuvering to finally get Max into a comfortable position, before he walked over to stand by Jason. He clearly hadn’t had much experience with babies before, and he looked so uncomfortable that Jason wished he had a camera on him. Dick would find this hilarious.

“Maxie, you having fun there with your Uncle Tim,” Jason called out, sniggering at the glare he received from Tim.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Tim sighed, before looking down at Max with a serious face. “Your Dad’s very mean to me Max. I hope you don’t take after him.”

Jason had just turned to give a retort when, with the most perfect timing in the world, Max proceeded to smile up at Tim, and then vomit all over his front. Tim’s disgusted screech could barely be heard over Jason’s hysterical laughter, and it took a full minute for him to calm down enough to accept Max back from Tim’s outstretched arms.

He shooed Tim over to his bathroom to clean up, ignoring Tim’s grumbling in favour for congratulating Max on her brilliant timing. By the time Tim had returned, a faint stain still on his suit, Max was all cleaned up too and breakfast was served.

“I swear you taught her to do that, I’m going to smell like baby sick all day now.” Tim grimaced as accepted his plate from Jason. “Thanks for the food though.”

“Don’t mention it, at least you don’t just show up and expect to be fed like Dick does.” 

Jason finished eating first, and moved to look through the folder, surprised to not only find the USB Tim had used last night, but also a few leaflets and website printouts. Most of them looked like pediatrician recommendations and a few were for local nurseries. 

As he slowly pulled them out, Tim leaned forward, looking eager to explain them.

“Those are from back when Stephanie got pregnant,” Tim clarified. “She wasn’t really sure what to do, so I did a bunch of research on all her options, and these were some of the best places I found for if she decided to raise them.” 

Jason stayed silent as he flipped through the leaflets, recognising a few from his own research. But it was clear from the detailed notes scribbled on them that Tim had done a lot more research. He’d even noted what times nursery applications were due in by, and whether or not the staff were clean.

“I checked through them last night and they still seem to be up to date still. Oh! And I forgot to mention I put a few links on the hard drive to some single parent advice groups and stuff, though I didn’t have much time to check them out so they might not be any good.”

Jason was blown away. Tim didn’t have to do any of this for him. He hadn’t been a particularly good brother to Tim, and yet Tim had done all of this for him. Part of Jason wanted to cry. Another part of him wanted to run away. But the weight of Max in his arms helped to ground him, helped remind him of what he needed to say.

“Tim I- Thank you for this. For everything.” Jason sent Tim a stern look when he tried to object.

“No I’m serious right now. You didn’t have to do as much as you have, especially after everything I’ve done to you. I never even apologised for trying to kill you. I don’t think I could be half as forgiving for that, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.” 

Jason made sure to look Tim in the eye, to make sure he understood just how sincere he felt. This apology was a long time coming, and if Jason wanted to start fixing his relationships, he needed to make sure there were now misunderstandings.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry for being a shit brother, and I- I think I’m ready to fix that.”

Jason held his breath as Tim stared at him, an indescribable look on his face. The seconds seemed to drag before Tim’s face finally morphed into a smile. 

“I forgave you for all that a long time ago Jason. I know you were going through… a lot.” Tim rested his head in his hand, absentmindedly twirling a breakfast knife with his fingers. “I admit I didn’t really understand at the time, but after being replaced I kinda got it. That sucked enough on its own, so I can’t even imagine what it was like for you.”

“But thanks for the apology anyways. I’d- I think I’d like to try again at being brothers too.”

Jason nodded and smiled back at Tim, relieved at how well the conversation had gone. The only problem was, was that he had no idea where to go from there, and neither did Tim. After a short, painful moment of silence, Jason started to busy himself by collecting all the dishes, at the same time that Tim stood up and checked his phone.

“Shit- I’m going to be late,” Tim began gathering his things together, before flashing a harried smile at Jason. “Thanks again for the breakfast, I guess I’ll see you around?”

Jason barely had time to reply before Tim was out the door, a quick “Bye Max!” shouted over his shoulder.

Jason was left staring at the closed door for a second, lost in his thoughts and still slightly reeling from the heavy conversation and speedy departure. It was a small, and slightly wet, hand patting  
his cheek that brought him out of his daze, and he turned to beam at Max.

“You just met your Uncle Tim sweetheart, he’s a bit weird, but I think you’re going to like him a lot.”

Max’s returning smile was so beautiful that Jason had to be careful not to squeeze her too tight with his hug. 

For once, things were starting to look up in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Tim and Jasons sibling dynamic, and even though I think it would take them some time to fully get comfortable around each other, I think they'd click pretty fast after giving each other a proper chance. Also I think you can tell that I am an older sibling just by the way I write Jason. 
> 
> I headcanon that even though Tim doesn't dislike kids, he's still very awkward interacting with them, and doesn't really know what to do with them. He definetly does a ton of research about them to help out with friends/family though, so (ironically) he's the child rearing expert
> 
> Next chapter should (hopefully) feature Steph and Cass!! Until then, you can check out my tumblr @timbourinedrake to see what I'm doing or leave a comment below :)


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